System and method for smooth pointing of objects during a presentation

ABSTRACT

A system and method are provided that allows a speaker to provide real-time annotations to one or more displayed images during a presentation. The speaker inputs the annotations my manually identify a portion of the displayed image using an input mechanism such as a touch screen that is in communication with a presentation monitor and a control system that is controlling the presentation. The identified portions are annotated onto the displayed images using a adaptive color that is selected to provide optimum contrast with the existing colors in the displayed image. In addition to providing adaptive, contrasting colors for the annotations, imperfection such as waviness are removed from the identified portions to created corrected portions that are then annotated onto the presentation image. Annotation is accomplished through computer generated graphics or through the use of a motorized, controllable laser pointer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/367,518, filed Mar. 3, 2006. The entire disclosure of thatapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to the field of interface devices forcomputer users, and more particularly to the use of pointing devicesduring presentations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In conference and meeting presentations, images are displayed on amonitor or projected on a screen for audience viewing. A speaker callsattention to specific portions of the displayed images using pointingdevices such as illuminated arrows and laser pointers. Although laserpointers are generally preferred pointing devices, there are variouslimitations associated with the use of laser pointing devices. Forexample, the size of the projected image is typically large, especiallyin auditorium settings, and the speaker is positioned relatively closeto the projected image. At this relatively close proximity to theprojected image, the speaker cannot easily view the entire image, andthere is significant perspective distortion when viewing projectedimages up close. Therefore, the speaker cannot easily view thepresentation and must use a small computer screen on which the imagesare simultaneously displayed, alternating attention between the computerscreen and the projected image.

Since laser pointers are typically held in the hand of the speaker andmanually moved to the desired locations on the projected images, laserpointers are susceptible to motion jitter, causing inaccurate pointingand viewing problems for the audience. Moreover, the speaker has to facethe projected image to ensure that the correct areas of the screen areselected using the laser pointer, preventing eye contact between thespeaker and the audience. In addition, the use of these physicalhighlighting systems are only applicable to presentations given at asingle location and not to presentations made simultaneously to multipledistributed locations, for example across a computer network or througha video conference.

Systems have been developed in an attempt to overcome the limitations ofusing physical and optical pointers in group presentations. For example,U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,636 is directed to a display system for overlayinggraphics applied to a display surface onto the graphics output of anapplication running in the foreground, and to allow user input to theapplication program by means of a touch sensitive screen. In this way, acompletely interactive display system is provided in which the user canhighlight and edit information generated by the computer program bysimply drawing on the touch sensitive screen. In operation, when a userselectively applies pressure in the form of a point, line or script tothe surface of a touch screen, information is conveyed by the touchscreen to a computer, which in response updates the image projected bythe computer screen with the user script and reproduces such informationat a sufficient rate that user drawings on the board become interactive.Alternatively, the computer can interpret the user's touch input, and inresponse emulate operation of the mouse, a light pen or a digitalcommand, for conveying information to the application program beingexecuted. User script is overlaid onto the image, causing the image tobe updated to include the user drawing, for example, points, lines, orscript. The system however, does not attempt to interpret the drawingsmade by the user or to correct errors or waviness in the points, linesor script entered by the user on the touch screen. In addition, thesystem does not provide for enhancing contrast between the drawingsentered by the user and the information displayed by the computer on theLCD screen in order to enhance the ability of the viewing audience toidentify the highlighted areas of a projected image.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,538,643 is directed to a method and system forpresenting slides in which touch pad portions of a touch pad are mappedto pre-selected parts of a presented slide such that a pre-selected partof the present slide is highlighted in response to the correspondingtouchpad portion being touched. Instead of highlighting portions of theslide, color change, outlining or other ways of distinguishing theselected portions of the slide can be used. An operator generates slidesto be displayed on a display screen and associates highlightingtechniques, such as color change, blinking or brightening, animatedbuilds, check marks or underlining with a pre-selected part, point,portion or attribute of the slides for drawling audience attention tothe pre-selected parts of the slides. The operator may then touch atouch pad portion of touch pad to execute the highlighting of acorresponding pre-selected part of the slide. This system, however,requires pre-selection of areas of a presentation slide, association ofa pre-determined highlighting technique with each pre-selected area andmapping each pre-selected area to a specific portion of the touchpaddevice. The system does not provide for random, real-time user input ofhighlighting during a presentation or for the selection of random areasof the presentation slide outside of the pre-selected areas. Inaddition, the system does not maximize the highlighting contrast betweenthe pre-selected areas of the presentation slide and the non-selectedareas of the presentation slide.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,417 is directed to a visual lecture aid thatprovides a lecturer with a remote-controlled touch panel assembly, whichmakes available any one of a group of stored graphic icon pointers andhighlighters that can be seen by the lecturer on a display panel. Theseicon pointers and highlighters include highlighting overstrikes andhighlighting squares. The lecturer utilizes the remote-controlled touchpanel to select each of the pointing and highlighting icons by touchselection from a menu of displayed icons on the display panel andsequentially positions each icon and overstrike highlighting line by asimple finger movement over the display panel and subsequently freezesthe final position of each pointing icon by touching a displayed freezebutton. In addition to the graphics, both projected color selection andbrightness control are available to the lecturer from a remotecontrolled display panel. This system, however, only provides for theselection of specific predefined graphics and does not allow for entryor recognition of user-defined graphics or shapes on the touch screen.In addition, the color selections and brightness are predefined withinthe system, and the user must select from one of these predefinedcolors. The colors, however, are not created or selected to maximize thecontrast of the display screen over which the selected graphics aredisplayed.

Therefore, a need exists for a pointing system that enables a speaker tomaintain eye-contact with the audience, and to point at objects on thedisplayed screen without introducing motion jitter. Suitable systemswill provide for random and real-time user selection of highlightedregions of a selected image during the course of the presentation whilepermitting the speaker to generally maintain focus and eye-contact withthe audience. Color contrast of the highlighted area will be selected tomaximize contrast with the portions of image to be highlighted. Inaddition, the system can work with computer generated highlights andwith conventional laser pointers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments in accordance with the present invention aredirected to systems and methods that allow a speaker or presenter, whilefacing the audience and during a presentation, to select areas of aprojected image for highlighting and to highlight the selected images onthe projected image. Highlighting is accomplished by using lines, areasor figures that are superimposed onto the projected image or bycontrolling the movement of a pointing device such as a laser pointer.In addition to facilitating an indication by the speaker or presenter ofan area or areas to be highlighted in the projected image, the exemplarysystems and methods of the present invention reduce or eliminate randomjitter or jagged lines in the displayed highlight or controlled pointingdevice using, for example, motion smoothing applied to indications madeby the presenter. For example when the projected highlight is a tracedpath, the trajectory of the path is rendered with a smooth curve beforeprojection onto the displayed image.

In one exemplary embodiment, a system in accordance with the presentinvention includes a touch-sensitive display monitor, i.e. touch screen,that displays the projected image to the speaker and that accepts entryof user-selected indication of the areas of the projected image to behighlighted. For example, the speaker can contact regions of the touchscreen corresponding to the areas of the projected image that are to behighlighted, can draw boxes, circles or other geometric shapes aroundthe area of the image to be highlighted or can trace paths between anytwo objects within the projected image. The regions of the touch screenmonitor that are contacted by the speaker are formulated as lines, areasor cursors that are projected on the displayed image. The color,brightness and opacity of the projected lines, areas or cursors areadapted to contrast with the existing color of the displayed image inthe region of the line, area or cursor while still providing for anunobstructed view of the information contained in the projected image.In one embodiment, the area of the displayed image that is touched bythe speaker is rendered through a color that is contrasting to theaverage background color around the area of the image that is touched orselected by the speaker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a presentationsystem for use with methods for smooth pointing of objects during apresentation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a method forsmooth pointing of objects during a presentation in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of another embodiment of a methodfor smooth pointing of objects during a presentation in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a display screen in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a non-rectilinear line entered in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a corrected non-rectilinear linecorresponding to the non-rectilinear line of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a perimeter of a two-dimensional spaceentered in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of a corrected perimeter corresponding to theperimeter of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an example of one embodiment of the method in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is an example of another embodiment of the method in accordancewith the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a presentationsystem 10 for use with exemplary methods in accordance with the presentinvention is illustrated. Systems and methods in accordance with thepresent invention can be used in any arrangement where one or morespeakers are presenting information or data to multiple recipientslocated in one or more physical locations. Suitable arrangementsinclude, but are not limited to, video conferences, lectures, distancelearning programs, Internet based programs, conference lectures andclassroom lectures. As illustrated, the presentation system 10 includesat least one control system 26 for controlling or conducting thepresentation. The control system 26 is capable of generating and storingdata or information to be displayed during the course of thepresentation. Typically, these data or information are in the form ofgraphs, charts, images or slides that are stored in electronic,machine-readable format and are often computer-generated using one ormore software programs known and available in the art. Suitable controlsystems include, but are not limited to, computer systems such as laptopcomputers, desktop computers and servers, programmable logiccontrollers, EEPROM's, single function control systems specificallycreated to conduct presentations and combinations thereof.

The system 10, also includes a plurality of presentation displayplatforms 30 in communication with the control system 26. The controlsystem 26 controls the display of the presentation data on these displayplatforms. The display platforms 30 are in direct communication with thecontrol system 26 and controlled thereby without any intermediatecontrollers or processors or are in contact with the control systemacross one or more networks 28 or through additional nodes (not shown).Suitable networks include any type of local area network or wide areanetwork known and available in the art. Suitable display platforms arecapable of displaying images 22 stored in electronic, machine-readableformat and communicated to the display platform 30 by the presentationcontrol system 26. Suitable display platforms include, but are notlimited to, computer monitors 34, including cathode ray tubes (CRT's),plasma displays and liquid crystal displays (LCD's), and projection typedisplays that include a projection screen 36 and a projection mechanism24, for example projectors or LCD's used in combination with overheadprojectors. A suitable projection type display is the Epson EMP-732,commercially available from the Seiko Epson Corporation of 3-3-5 Owa,Suwa, Nagano, Japan.

To facilitate real-time interaction between the speaker giving thepresentation and the displayed images, the system 10 includes aninteraction mechanism 12 that allows the speaker to control thepresentation, for example to control the selection of images to bedisplayed on the display platforms. In general, the interactionmechanism facilitates user-defined input into the displayed imagesduring the presentation, for example highlighting selected portions ofthe displayed images in real-time during the presentation. Theseselected highlights are shown or projected on the displayed images forviewing by the audience. The presentation interaction mechanism 12 is incommunication with the presentation control system 26 and includes apresentation monitor 14. In one embodiment, the presentation interactionmechanism 12 is included in the presentation control system 26. In oneembodiment, the presentation monitor 14 is independent of and separatefrom the display platforms, although in one embodiment the presentationmonitor and a display platform can be combined. The presentation monitoris capable of displaying the images 22 provided by the control system.Any monitor capable of displaying electronic or computer-generatedimages can be used. Suitable presentation monitors are known andavailable in the art and include the same types of devices that can beused as display platforms. In one embodiment, the presentation monitor14 is positioned so that it is viewable by the presenter or speaker, andin particular is viewable by the speaker such that the speaker maintainseye contact with the audience during the presentation. In oneembodiment, the presentation control system simultaneously displays theimages on one or more presentation platforms and the presentationmonitor.

The presentation interaction mechanism 12 also includes at least onepointing device or input mechanism 16 that allows the speaker or user tomanually annotate a displayed image in real time by indicating ordrawing generally straight lines, non-rectilinear lines, i.e. curves,two-dimensional objects, for example the perimeter of a geographicshape, alpha-numeric annotations and combinations thereof on the imagedisplayed on the presentation monitor and the presentation platforms. Aplurality of input mechanisms 16 can also be provided, for example whereeach input mechanism is arranged to facilitate a specific type ofuser-defined input. The input mechanism 16 is in communication with thecontrol system 26. In one embodiment, the input mechanism 16 is incommunication with but separate from the presentation monitor 14. Inanother embodiment, the input mechanism 16 and presentation monitor 14are integrated into a single device, e.g. a touch sensitive displayscreen. In one embodiment, this single device is the control system.Suitable user interaction mechanisms include, but are not limited to,any mechanism known and available in the art that permits manual entryof user input into a computer-generated display field, for example apoint-and-click device such as a computer mouse or trackball, a pressurepad, a touch screen and a pressure tablet used in combination with astylus 18. In one embodiment, the input mechanism 16 is a touch screen,for example that is part of a general purpose computer system. Suitabletouch screens are commercially available as add-on touch-screens, calledtouchscreens.com, from Mass Multimedia Inc. of Colorado Springs, Colo.

The input mechanism 16 facilitates manual selection of a user-identifiedportion 20 of the displayed image. This user-identified portion 20 isthen displayed as a highlighted portion 21 of the displayed image on allthe display platforms. In one embodiment, the highlighted portion 21 isdisplayed on the image by the control system using computer-generatedgraphics. In another embodiment, the control system is in communicationwith an optical pointer, e.g. a laser pointer 36, through a motorized ormechanical control mechanism 32. The control system 26 through themechanical control mechanism 32 moves the laser pointer 36 to trace theuser-defined highlighted area 21 on the displayed image 22. Suitablemechanical control mechanism, laser pointers and control software areknown and available in the art.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary embodiment of a method forhighlighting a portion of the displayed image 50 is illustrated. Animage or slide from a presentation containing at least one, andpreferably a plurality of images is displayed 52 on at least one displayplatform. In one embodiment, the image is displayed simultaneously on aplurality of display platforms. These display platforms can be locatedin a single physical or geographic location, for example an auditorium,conference room or lecture hall, or at a plurality of distributedgeographic locations, for example a plurality of offices located atvarious locations across a country or throughout the world. Suitablemethods for displaying the image include any method for displaying anelectronically generated or stored image to be viewed by either multiplepersons in one location or by multiple people located at multiplelocations. In one embodiment, the images are displayed by a controlsystem, e.g. a computer, on a CRT, LCD, plasma or projection display incommunication with the control system and of sufficient size to beviewed by the presentation audience.

In another embodiment, the image is displayed simultaneously on amonitoring screen 54 that is separate from and independent of thedisplay platform. The monitoring screen is in communication with thecontrol system and is capable of receiving electronically generatedimages from the control system for display. Suitable monitoring screensinclude, but are not limited to, any type of computer monitor known andavailable in the art including desktop, laptop and handheld monitors. Inorder to provide for user input in real-time during the presentationwhile maintaining eye contact between the speaker and the audience, themonitoring screen is positioned to face the speaker such that thespeaker can maintain eye contact with the audience during thepresentation. In one embodiment, the monitoring screen is suitably sizedfor viewing by the speaker. In one embodiment, the monitoring screen isalso one of the display platforms. In one embodiment, the monitoringscreen is a touch sensitive screen that provides for both speakermonitoring of the presentation and speaker input. Any touch sensitivescreens known and available in the art can be used as the monitoringscreen.

In one embodiment, the speaker identifies at least one portion of thedisplayed image to be highlighted 56. Alternatively, the speaker canidentify a plurality of portions of the displayed image to behighlighted. By identifying portions of the displayed image to behighlighted on the display platforms during a presentation, the speakerdraws attention to specific portions of each displayed image andhighlights aspects of the presentation that correlate the speaker'scomments with the information and data provided on the displayed image.Suitable identified portions include, but are not limited to singlepoints, line 80 (FIG. 4), non-rectilinear lines (FIGS. 5 and 6) andtwo-dimensional shapes or areas (FIGS. 7 and 8). These two dimensionalshapes include geometric shapes and objects, e.g. arrows. In general,the identified portion can be viewed as a line drawn on or across thedisplayed image, for example a straight line, a non-rectilinear line ora line defining a perimeter of a geometric or two-dimensional shape. Asused herein, non-rectilinear line includes any curved line includingsimple curves, compound curves and curves that form objects imbedded intext such as brackets and parentheses.

In one exemplary embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 4, identifying theportion of the displayed image includes drawing a line 80, i.e.generally straight line, between a first object 78 on the displayedimage 22 and one of a plurality of second objects 79. In anotherembodiment as illustrated in FIG. 5, identifying the portion of thedisplayed image includes drawing a non-rectilinear line 82 on thedisplayed image 22. In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 7,identifying the portion of the displayed image includes drawing atwo-dimensional shape 86 on the displayed image 22. For example, thetwo-dimensional shape can be a geometric shape and the step of drawingthe two-dimensional shape includes manually drawing at least a portionof the perimeter of that shape. Preferably, the perimeter is indicatedsubstantially around the two-dimensional shape on the displayed image sothat the desired two-dimensional shape is adequately indicated.

Any method for providing user-defined input into a computer-based systemcan be used by the speaker to identify the desired portion of thedisplayed image. In one embodiment, the speaker uses a pointing or inputmechanism in communication with both the monitoring screen and thecontrol system to identify the desired portion of the displayed image.Suitable pointing mechanisms include, but are not limited to, point andclick mechanisms such as a computer mouse, trackball or a touchpad.These point and click devices can be wired or wireless devices. Othersuitable pointing mechanisms include touch sensitive screens, wherein atouch sensitive plate is placed on a display screen such that points onthe touch sensitive plate correspond to locations on the display screenand therefore to images displayed on the display screen. These pointscan be touched directly by using a finger or by using another devicesuch as a stylus. The pointing mechanism allows the speaker to manuallyidentify the desired portion of the displayed image in real-time duringa presentation.

Once identified, the user-defined portion is displayed on the monitoringscreen as entered by the speaker. In one embodiment, where the speakerinteraction mechanism 12 includes a touch sensitive screen acting asboth the monitoring screen and the pointing mechanism, the speakertouches the touch sensitive screen at one or more locationscorresponding to the desired portion of the displayed image. Forexample, the speaker touches the touch screen at a locationcorresponding to a particular object within the displayed image or drawsa line, non-rectilinear line, or shape on the touch screen in a locationthat corresponds to the desired location on the displayed image.

Since the identified portion of the displayed image is manually enteredby hand or by a hand-held device, the line, curve or shape entered willoften contain imperfections or variations, for example waviness in thelines. However, these variations in the initial trajectory of theidentified portion are undesirable. Waviness in the entered line resultsin blurriness when that line is shown on one of the display platforms.In addition, undesirable variations reduce the clarity of the identifiedportion. Therefore, in one embodiment the identified portion is analyzedto determine if undesirable variations in that identified portion needto be corrected 58. In one embodiment, identification of whether or notundesirable variations need to be corrected is conducted by the controlsystem. The undesirable variations can be predefined, for example by thespeaker. For example, a sudden jump in the coordinates of a line that isdrawn can be considered to be an undesirable variation. If undesirablevariations exist in the identified portion or, alternatively, variationsexist in the identified portion that exceed a predefined limit, then thevariations are corrected in the identified portion 60, resulting in amodified portion. This modified portion is used to highlight thedisplayed image.

In one embodiment, the identified portion is a substantially straightline across the displayed image that is manually drawn by the speakeracross the displayed image using the interaction mechanisms as definedherein. The undesirable variations, i.e. waviness, motion jitter andunintended curves, are corrected in the manually drawn line, creating amodified line. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the identified portion is anon-rectilinear line 82, and in particular a compound curve. Correctionof undesirable variations involves applying a curve smoothing algorithmto as-drawn non-rectilinear line 82 resulting in a modifiednon-rectilinear line 84 (FIG. 6). In another embodiment where theidentified portion of the displayed image is a two-dimensional shape,the shape is entered by manually indicating at least a portion of theperimeter of a two-dimensional shape on the displayed image. Undesirablevariations are corrected by correcting the perimeter around thetwo-dimensional shape. In one embodiment, the two-dimensional shape is ageometric shape, for example a circle, ellipse, square, rectangle ortriangle. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the perimeter 86 (FIG. 7) isentered manually by the speaker resulting in variations including a wavyline and an incomplete perimeter, i.e. the circle is not completelyclosed. These variations are removed from the entered perimeter tocreate a modified perimeter 88 (FIG. 8). As illustrated, the enteredperimeter is substantially the perimeter of a regular geometric shape,e.g. a circle. In one embodiment, correction of undesirable variationsin the identified portion includes selecting a geometric shape from apredetermined list of predetermined shapes that matches the shapeentered by the speaker. In one embodiment, this is performed by usingtemplate matching methods, which return the closest match to the drawnobject.

A suitable appropriate curve smoothing algorithm employs piecewiseparametric cubics and is described in M. Plass and M. Stone,“Curve-Fitting with Piecewise Parametric Cubics”, SIGGRAPH 1983:Proceedings of the 10th annual conference on Computer graphics andinteractive techniques, pages 229-239, ACM Press. The curve-fitting orcurve-smoothing algorithm can be applied after the presenter specifies atrajectory on the touch screen, and uses all the points that recordedthe presenter's touch. Alternately, the curve-fitting algorithm isapplied at fixed time intervals, e.g. every second, to the points thatrecord the presenter's touch during this interval.

Returning to FIG. 2, after any undesirable variations are corrected, oralternatively if the system and method do not check for or correctundesirable variations, at least one color in the identified portion ofthe displayed image is determined 62. In one embodiment, the determinedcolor is the color of the displayed image in an area covered or occupiedby the identified portion. When the identified portion is a line, thedetermined color is any color of the displayed image in the region orportion covered by that line. In another embodiment, the determinedcolor is the color of the displayed image in an region immediatelyadjacent to the identified portion, e.g. on either side of the line.This determination of a color in the displayed image can be used for anytype of identified portion including lines, non-rectilinear lines andthe perimeters of two-dimensional shapes. When the identified portion isa two-dimensional shape, the determined color is selected from any colorof the displayed image located within the area of the two-dimensionalshape, within the portion or region of the displayed image located underthe perimeter, within a portion or region of the displayed imageadjacent to the perimeter and combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, two or more colors are identified in the relevantportions of the displayed image. Preferably, the average color of thedisplayed image in portions that are covered by or adjacent to theidentified portions is identified. Suitable methods for identifying theaverage color of the displayed image are known and available in theliterature and are made, for example, on a pixel-by-pixel basis. In oneembodiment, the hue saturation value (HSV) is determined for thedisplayed image in the relevant portions or regions of the displayedimage, yielding an average HSV or a predominant HSV in the desiredregions of the displayed image indicated by the identified portion. Thisdetermination of color is made in real-time and is based on the imagecurrently displayed at the time that the identified portion is selectedby the speaker.

Having identified and determined a color in the relevant area of thedisplayed image covered by the identified portion, a contrasting colorto the determined color is identified 64. The Commission InternationaleDe L'Eclairage (CIE) Delta E metric can be used to define the concept ofcontrasting colors. A definition of the CIE Delta E metric can be foundin Color Science, by G. Wyszecki and W. Stiles, pg. 165, John Wiley2^(nd) Edition. The CIE Delta E metric defines differences between twocolors. If the CIE Delta E metric between two colors is sufficientlylarge, those two colors are considered to be contrasting. For example,if the CIE Delta E metric is greater than about 15, the colors areconsidered to contrasting, while the CIE Delta E metric is about 1 fortwo colors that are just noticeably different. In one embodiment forselecting a contrasting color, a color that yields a large CIR Delta Ewith respect to the original color is chosen, for example randomly.

Having identified the contrasting color, whether the contrasting colorof a single color or the contrasting average color of the identifiedaverage color, the identified portion is highlighted in the displayedimage on the display platforms by drawing or displaying the identifiedportion on the display platforms using the contrasting color 66. Theidentified portion can also be displayed on the monitoring screen usingthe contrasting color. By displaying the identified portion in thatcontrasting color, the appearance of the highlighted identified portionagainst the displayed image is optimized, making it easier for theaudience to follow the presentation and to see the highlight. In areasof the displayed image where the colors vary significantly, thecontrasting color can be varied throughout the identified portion tomaintain an optimum appearance. Highlighting the identified portionusing the contrasting color can be undertaken on a single displayplatform or on a plurality of display platforms. In one embodiment wherethe selected portion of the identified portion is a line ornon-rectilinear line, the entire line or non-rectilinear line isdisplayed in the contrasting color. In an embodiment where theidentified portion is a perimeter of a two-dimensional space, theperimeter, the entire two-dimensional area or both the perimeter and theentire two-dimensional area are displayed using the contrasting color.Thus, the color of the identified portion that is rendered on thedisplayed image will be distinct from its background, effectivelyimproving its visibility and avoiding the problem that a fixed cursorcolor suffers from, i.e. if the background color is close to the cursorcolor, the cursor becomes difficult to see.

In one embodiment, where the display image color is not constant in theidentified portion, the average color in this identified portion isdetermined. In one embodiment, a square area, for example of a size ofabout 96×96 pixels is used to calculate the average color. The nominaldisplay size in one embodiment is about 800×600 pixels. Other squareareas can be used, for example about 32×32 pixels.

In one embodiment, the identified portion of the displayed image is atwo-dimensional space or area, and the area is defined as the interiorof the perimeter of the two-dimensional shape drawn by the user. Theperimeter drawn by the system on the displayed image is a smooth curvethat is fitted to the points indicated by the user on the presentationmonitor using the pointing mechanism. The area within the perimeter isfilled with the contrasting average color of the initial pixelscontained within the smooth two-dimensional curve perimeter.Alternatively, the pixels within the perimeter used to calculate anaverage color are augmented by selecting additional pixels that fallwithin a predetermined distance outside the perimeter. In oneembodiment, display of the contrasting color is achieved through alinear combination of the selected contrasting color with thepre-existing pixel color at a given location. For example, for a givenselected contrasting color, C, and an original pixel color, P, the newcolor is fC+(1−f)P. In one embodiment, f is a number between about 0 andabout 1. Preferably, the value of f is less than about 0.5 so that theoriginal pixel value is visible. In other words, the new color that isrendered and displayed is a weighted average of the original color andthe contrasting color of the original pixel color.

In another embodiment, the complementary color of a given color is usedto enhance the visibility of a highlight. As used herein, acomplementary color is a color that is the most opposite, i.e. 180degrees opposite, of a given color. For a given color, there is only onecomplementary color, as there is only one point that is 180 degreesopposite the given color. However, there are many contrasting colors fora given color. An algorithm to calculate a complementary color isdescribed in “Computer Graphics, Principles and Practice”, by J. D.Foley, A. Van Dam, S. K. Feiner and J. F. Hughes, Second Edition, 1997,pg. 590, Addison Wesley Publishing Company. As described, the identifiedcolor within the displayed image is represented in an HSV color space,and a complementary color is identified that is 180 degrees opposite thegiven color in the HSV hexcone.

In one embodiment, the visibility of the selected area and the contentsof that area are enhanced by toggling the colors of the pixels withinthe area in a cyclical manner. For a given contrasting color, C, thecomplement of that contrasting color is identified, C′. For a givenoriginal color, P, of a pixel at a specified location, L, the complementof that original pixel color is identified, P′. During the first half ofeach color cycle, the pixel at the specified location, L, is renderedwith a color that is a linear combination of the contrasting color, C,and the given original pixel color, P, and is computed by the equationgiven above, i.e. fC+(1−f)P. During the second half of each cycle, thepixel at the specified location, L, is rendered by the complement to thecontrasting color, C′, and the complement to the original pixel color,P′, and is given by the equation fC′+(1−f)P′. This toggling of colorsmakes the contents of the selected area more visible. In one embodiment,the period of the cycle is about 2 seconds. In another embodiment, theconstant f is not a set value but is represented by a quantity thatchanges or decays over time, causing the color modifications andtoggling effect to disappear over time.

In one embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 3, an alternative exemplaryembodiment of a method for correcting the undesirable variations in themanually indicated highlight portion of the displayed image 68 inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated. Initially, animage is displayed on a least one and possibly a plurality of displayplatforms 70. A portion of the displayed image is identified 72, forexample by manually drawing a line across the displayed image. Suitablesystems and methods for identifying the desired portion of the displayedimage are as defined above. The identified portion includes straightlines, non-rectilinear or curved lines and perimeters of two-dimensionalareas or objects on the displayed image. Undesirable variations orimperfections in the identified area are corrected 74, yielding acorrected identified portion. The corrected identified portion is drawnon 76.

A first example of an exemplary embodiment of a method for highlightinga visual presentation in real time in accordance with the presentinvention is illustrated in FIG. 9. A presentation image 22 is displayedsimultaneously on a display platform 34 and a monitoring display 14. Asillustrated, the monitoring display 14 is the screen of a laptopcomputer, which is serving as the monitoring mechanism 12. The userinput device 16 is also in communication with the laptop computer and isin the form of a computer mouse. The speaker identifies a portion 20 ofthe displayed image using the input device and this identified portionis displayed on the monitoring screen 14 just as it is entered by thespeaker including with any waviness or imperfections that result frommanual entry using the imputer device. Undesirable variations arerecognized and corrected to obtain a corrected identified portion 21that is drawn over the displayed image on the display platform 34 usingcomputer generated graphics. As illustrated, the laptop computer alsoserves as the control system that controls the presentation of imagesfor the presentation and that executes methods in accordance with thepresent invention.

A second example of an exemplary embodiment of a method in accordancewith the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 10. As with the firstexample, the monitoring mechanism 12 is a laptop computer that alsoserves as the control system for the presentation. The user input device16 is a touch pad integrated into the laptop computer. The desiredportion 20 of the displayed image is identified by the speaker using thetouch pad and displayed on the monitoring screen 14. The identified lineis corrected; however, the corrected line 21 is not drawn over thedisplayed image on the display platform 34 using computer-generatedgraphics. A motorized and controllable laser light pointer 36 incommunication with the interaction mechanism is used to trace thecorrected identified portion 21 across the displayed image 22.

The use of a controllable, motorized laser pointer alleviates the needfor creating an adaptively varying color for the cursor. In addition,since the laser pointer is mounted on a motorized stage, the presenterdoes not have to face the projection screen at any time and can alwaysface the audience directly. The motion of the motorized stage iscalibrated such that the laser pointer points to the corners of theprojection screen whenever the corners of the monitor used to previewthe presentation are touched. The precise coordinates can be obtainedthrough simple bicubic interpolation.

Methods and systems in accordance with the present invention enable thespeaker giving a presentation in front of a live audience to face theaudience at all times while speaking. In one embodiment, the speakermerely contacts a touch-screen monitor that previews the presentation,and this interaction is transformed into a color-adaptive highlight orcursor that is displayed on the final projection platform. In addition,the displayed highlight is suitably smoothed so that jittery hand motionis eliminated. This allows the presenter easier access to both hispresentation materials and the audience, enabling him to deliver a moreeffective presentation.

Methods and systems in accordance with exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment,an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing bothhardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the inventionis implemented in software, which includes but is not limited tofirmware, resident software and microcode. In addition, exemplarymethods and systems can take the form of a computer program productaccessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providingprogram code for use by or in connection with a computer, logicalprocessing unit or any instruction execution system. For the purposes ofthis description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium can beany apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, ortransport the program for use by or in connection with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device. Suitable computer-usable orcomputer readable mediums include, but are not limited to, electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems(or apparatuses or devices) or propagation mediums. Examples of acomputer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory,magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an opticaldisk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read onlymemory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

Suitable data processing systems for storing and/or executing programcode include, but are not limited to, at least one processor coupleddirectly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. Thememory elements include local memory employed during actual execution ofthe program code, bulk storage, and cache memories, which providetemporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce thenumber of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage duringexecution. Input/output or I/O devices, including but not limited tokeyboards, displays and pointing devices, can be coupled to the systemeither directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Exemplaryembodiments of the methods and systems in accordance with the presentinvention also include network adapters coupled to the system to enablethe data processing system to become coupled to other data processingsystems or remote printers or storage devices through interveningprivate or public networks. Suitable currently available types ofnetwork adapters include, but are not limited to, modems, cable modems,DSL modems, Ethernet cards and combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to amachine-readable or computer-readable medium containing amachine-executable or computer-executable code that when read by amachine or computer causes the machine or computer to perform a methodfor highlighting a portion of a displayed image in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present invention and to thecomputer-executable code itself. The machine-readable orcomputer-readable code can be any type of code or language capable ofbeing read and executed by the machine or computer and can be expressedin any suitable language or syntax known and available in the artincluding machine languages, assembler languages, higher levellanguages, object oriented languages and scripting languages. Thecomputer-executable code can be stored on any suitable storage medium ordatabase, including databases disposed within, in communication with andaccessible by computer networks utilized by systems in accordance withthe present invention and can be executed on any suitable hardwareplatform as are known and available in the art including the controlsystems used to control the presentations of the present invention.

While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the inventiondisclosed herein fulfill the objectives of the present invention, it isappreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may bedevised by those skilled in the art. Additionally, feature(s) and/orelement(s) from any embodiment may be used singly or in combination withother embodiment(s) and steps or elements from methods in accordancewith the present invention can be executed or performed in any suitableorder. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims areintended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which wouldcome within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. A method for highlighting a portion of a displayed image, the methodcomprising: displaying an image on at least one display platform;identifying a portion of the displayed image to be highlighted;determining at least one color in the identified portion of thedisplayed image; identifying a contrasting color to the determined colorof the identified portion such that a CIE Delta E metric between thecontrasting color and the determined color comprises a predeterminedsize; identifying a complementary color to the determined color of theidentified portion that is 180 degrees opposite the determined color onthe hue saturation value hexcone; identifying a complementary color tothe contrasting color of the determined color that is 180 degreesopposite the contrasting color on the hue saturation value hexcone; andhighlighting the identified portion of the displayed image on thedisplay screen using a linear combination of the contrasting color andthe determined color and a separate linear combination of thecomplementary color to the contrasting color and the complementary colorto the determined color.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofhighlighting the identified portion further comprises toggling theidentified portion between the linear combination of the contrastingcolor and the determined color and the linear combination of thecomplementary color to the contrasting color and the complementary colorto the determined color.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step oftoggling the identified portion further comprises modifying both thelinear combination of the contrasting color and the determined color andthe linear combination of the complementary color to the contrastingcolor and the complementary color to the determined color over a timeperiod to cause color modifications and visual effects of the togglingin the identified portion to disappear over the time period.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising displaying the image on amonitoring screen separate from the display platform, wherein the stepof identifying a portion of the displayed image to be highlightedcomprises using a pointing mechanism in communication with themonitoring screen to identify the portion of the displayed image.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the monitoring screen comprises a touchsensitive screen and the step of using the pointing mechanism toidentify the portion of the displayed image further comprises contactingthe touch screen at one or more locations corresponding to theidentified portion of the displayed image.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein: the identified portion of the displayed image comprises a line;the step of identifying the portion of the displayed image to behighlighted comprises: manually drawing the line across the displayedimage; and correcting undesirable variations in the manually drawn lineto create a modified line; and the step of highlighting the identifiedportion further comprises displaying the modified line on the displayedimage using the contrasting color.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theline comprises a non-rectilinear line and the step of correctingundesirable variations comprises applying a curve smoothing algorithm tothe non-rectilinear line.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein: theidentified portion of the displayed image comprises a two-dimensionalshape; the step of identifying the portion of the displayed image to behighlighted comprises: manually indicating a perimeter substantiallyaround the two-dimensional shape on the displayed image; and correctingundesirable variations in the manually indicated perimeter to create thetwo-dimensional shape; and the step of highlighting the identifiedportion further comprises displaying the contrasting color on thedisplayed image to fill an area covered by the two-dimensional shape. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the step of correcting undesirablevariations further comprises selecting a matching geometric shape from apre-determined list of geometric shapes as the two-dimensional shapebased on the manually indicated perimeter of the two-dimensional shape.10. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified portion of thedisplayed image comprises a line and the step of identifying acontrasting color to the color of the identified portion comprisesidentifying at least one color of the displayed image along the line, inan area of the displayed image adjacent to the line or combinationsthereof.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified portion ofthe displayed image comprises a two-dimensional shape and the step ofdetermining at least one color comprises identifying at least one colorin an area of the displayed image covered by the two-dimensional shape.12. The method of claim 1, wherein: the step of determining at least onecolor in the identified portion of the displayed image further comprisesidentifying an average color of the displayed image in an area coveredby the identified portion; the step of identifying a contrasting colorcomprises identifying a contrasting average color to the average colorof the identified portion; and the step of highlighting the identifiedportion of the image comprises highlighting the identified portion ofthe image on the display screen using the contrasting average color. 13.The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining at least onecolor further comprises determining a color for each pixel within theidentified portion of the displayed image; and the step of highlightingthe identified portion further comprises highlighting each pixel withinthe identified portion using the linear combination of the contrastingcolor and the determined color for that pixel and the separate linearcombination of the complementary color to the contrasting color and thecomplementary color to the determined color for that pixel.
 14. A methodfor highlighting selected portions of a displayed image, the methodcomprising: displaying an image on at least one display platform;identifying a portion of the displayed image by manually drawing theline across the displayed image; determining an average color in thedisplayed image in at least one of the area of the line or an adjacentarea to the line; identifying a contrasting color to the average colorsuch that a CIE Delta E metric between the contrasting color and theaverage color comprises a predetermined size; identifying acomplementary color to the average color of the identified portion thatis 180 degrees opposite the average color on the hue saturation valuehexcone; identifying a complementary color to the contrasting color ofthe average color that is 180 degrees opposite the contrasting color onthe hue saturation value hexcone; correcting undesirable variations inthe manually drawn line using a curve smoothing algorithm to create amodified line; and highlighting the identified portion on the displayplatform by displaying the modified line on the displayed image using alinear combination of the contrasting color and the average color and aseparate linear combination of the complementary color to thecontrasting color and the complementary color to the average color. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein: the step of identifying the linefurther comprises manually indicating a perimeter substantially around atwo-dimensional shape on the displayed image; the step of correctingundesirable variations comprises correcting undesirable variations inthe manually indicated perimeter to create a modified perimeter definingthe two-dimensional shape; and the step of highlighting the line furthercomprises indicating the two-dimensional image on the displayed image.16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of indicating thetwo-dimensional image on the displayed image further comprises tracingthe modified perimeter using a mechanically controlled laser pointer totrace the modified line across the displayed image on the displayplatform.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing acomputer-readable code that when read by a computer causes the computerto perform a method for highlighting a portion of a displayed image, themethod comprising: displaying an image on at least one display platform;identifying a portion of the displayed image to be highlighted;determining at least one color in the identified portion of thedisplayed image; identifying a contrasting color to the determined colorof the identified portion such that a CIE Delta E metric between thecontrasting color and the determined color comprises a predeterminedsize; identifying a complementary color to the determined color of theidentified portion that is 180 degrees opposite the determined color onthe hue saturation value hexcone; identifying a complementary color tothe contrasting color of the determined color that is 180 degreesopposite the contrasting color on the hue saturation value hexcone; andhighlighting the identified portion of the displayed image on thedisplay screen using a linear combination of the contrasting color andthe determined color and a separate linear combination of thecomplementary color to the contrasting color and the complementary colorto the determined color.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 17, wherein: the method further comprises displaying the imageon a touch sensitive monitoring screen separate from the displayplatform; and the step of identifying a portion of the displayed imageto be highlighted comprises contacting the touch screen at one or morelocations corresponding to the identified portion of the displayedimage.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein: the identified portion of the displayed image comprises anon-rectilinear line; the step of identifying the portion of thedisplayed image to be highlighted comprises: manually drawing thenon-rectilinear line in the displayed image; and applying a curvesmoothing algorithm to the non-rectilinear line to create a modifiednon-rectilinear line; and the step of highlighting the identifiedportion further comprises displaying the modified non-rectilinear lineon the displayed image using the contrasting color.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein: theidentified portion of the displayed image comprises a two-dimensionalshape; the step of identifying the portion of the displayed image to behighlighted comprises: manually indicating a perimeter substantiallyaround the two-dimensional shape on the displayed image; and correctingundesirable variations in the manually indicated perimeter to create thetwo-dimensional shape; and the step of highlighting the identifiedportion further comprises displaying the contrasting color on thedisplayed image to fill an area covered by the two-dimensional shape.